When reading Mehta, Berger, and Ellick’s pieces, I was able to see a general consensus. They speak about melting pot communities, in which there is much intermingling and still some impenetrability. In general, the diversity of New York is beautiful and people interact with others from different races and backgrounds, though there are still those who stick to their own
Something that stood out to me was the neighborly interaction Mehta mentions in the Calloway Château. The smell of different food flooding the building and families picking each other’s children up from school reminds me a lot of my own experience living in a Bensonhurst apartment building. My building has a slightly different make-up. We form a community which consists of Azerbaijani Jewish, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Hispanic, and in the past five or so years, Filipino, African American, and Pakistani residents. Interestingly enough, our surrounding neighborhood is predominantly Chinese.
As a child, my neighbors would often catch my mother and I at the doorstep, leaving to walk to my elementary school, and offer us a ride. My next door neighbors are a Jewish woman from Israel and a Filipino man who live together and have the cutest baby girl on the planet (really- you have to see her!). As in Mehta’s building, the Russian and Azerbaijani Jews will sit in front of the stoop and enjoy the cool air on warm summer nights.
Yet Mehta’s description seems like some far-off, utopian fairytale. Our residents do not visit one another’s apartments or leave the doors wide open. We hold friendly conversations on the elevator, but don’t make extreme efforts to interact with one another. Just as Ellick could not penetrate certain ethnic enclaves, I see the impenetrable groups forming around me. Additionally, as the rent in my area goes up and Brooklyn becomes the new go-to place, there are more upper middle class residents moving in, often young, unmarried businessmen who exclude themselves from the community.
But it’s grounding to see the different people being civil and respectful with one another. We chatter about how wonderful our Yugoslavian superintendent is, complain about how expensive rent prices are getting, and advise our neighbors about which middle schools, high schools, and colleges are best for which careers. Intermingling among different ethnicities is accepted, and so is not doing so.
In short, it is unclear whether hidden tensions exist and it is unclear if an effort to form a true melting pot would bring us closer together or tear us apart. So long as we are respectful, caring, and tolerant of one another, the Brooklynites in my neighborhood and the Corona residents Mehta writes about seem to be content.
